The Lakers reportedly want to be buyers in the coming weeks, but what are they really playing for?
Getty Images
The Los Angeles Lakers function as buyers at almost every trade deadline. That’s what tends to happen for teams that employ superstars as consistently as they do. The goal is always to supplement them, to push to win while they still can. This current Lakers’ front office has an iffy track record in that respect.
It did put a championship roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis in 2020, but only after missing on initial target Kawhi Leonard. The 2023 trade deadline acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley help spur a push to the Western Conference finals, but everything that has happened since suggests that run was fairly circumstantial. None of those players grew into long-term, core pieces for the Lakers. The 2021 miss on Kyle Lowry, the 2024 miss on Dejounte Murray and the complete inaction in 2022 stand out as inflection points for a Laker team that has probably left a bit of playoff meat on the bone since that 2020 run.
The intent, though, has mostly been consistent even if the execution hasn’t been. James and Davis, by and large, have been a championship-caliber duo since they united in 2019. The front office has mostly tried to give them the talent they need to win meaningfully. That is seemingly the goal yet again, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, who reported Tuesday that the Lakers “are expected to be one of the more active buyers leading into the Feb. 6 trade deadline as they try to maximize the final seasons of the LeBron James-Anthony Davis partnership.”
Of course, the longer this partnership lasts, the bleaker its prospects appear. James will turn 40 before the end of the month, and his age is finally starting to show. Davis has mostly looked like an All-NBA player this season, but an ugly stretch from the end of November through the beginning of December brought on by a bout with plantar fasciitis was a reminder of how precarious his health can be. The cast around them has, frankly, been miserable. Their 14-12 record through 26 games is their worst mark at this point on the calendar in any season that hasn’t involved Russell Westbrook. The Lakers rank 22nd in the NBA in net rating, suggesting that they are over performing that underwhelming record. Maybe there’s a way to turn the Lakers back into the sort of winners they were in 2020. They’ve just never looked further from there than they do now.
That has led to some fans wondering if this might be the end for the James-Davis partnership, but Buha’s reporting, for now at least, seems to slam the door on any notion of a breakup. “Two players who almost certainly won’t be traded, barring them asking out of Los Angeles, are Davis ($43.2 million) and James ($48.7 million),” Buha wrote.
A trade involving either, for a variety of reasons, would be enormously difficult. James literally negotiated a no-trade clause into the contract this offseason, but even if he hadn’t, a player of his stature simply isn’t getting traded without his approval. No team wants to acquire an angry LeBron James for optics alone. Davis doesn’t have a no-trade clause, but he does have a max contract at a point in CBA history in which moving those during the season has never been harder. The sort of teams that might like to pay the Lakers a boatload of draft picks to get Davis are mostly near or above one of the aprons, making salary-matching in such a deal quite complicated. Deals of that magnitude are rarely easy. It’s even rarer that they’re obvious winners.
But at a certain point the Lakers have to start thinking about what comes after James and Davis. This offseason was seemingly that time. So much of the focus of their hiring process for a new head coach, both in the pursuit of Connecticut national champion Dan Hurley and their eventual decision to pick JJ Redick, was centered around player development. They chased Klay Thompson in free agency, yes, but when they missed out, they didn’t force the issue on other win-now additions.
For now, though, the Lakers seem to be keeping their options open as far as diving back into the contender’s pool. There’s nothing wrong with that if the perfect deal presents itself, but just as a rebuilding trade would be complicated, the notion of fixing this roster in a single stroke seems downright impossible. Is there a trade out there that can fix this team’s moribund perimeter defense, its 3-point shooting volume and its front-court heft? If such a deal even did exist, would it be worth the limited draft capital the Lakers still have when James may no longer quite be James and Davis is constantly threatened by injuries? The window for the Lakers to compete seriously in the Western Conference may not necessarily be closed, but the crack is getting smaller and smaller by the day.
It’s so small at this point that it would be irresponsible of the Lakers to not at least consider alternative paths here. If some team is willing to throw the Lakers an enormous cache of future assets for Davis, what would really be lost long-term by taking it? If the Lakers are below .500 in the weeks leading up to the deadline, would keeping James through his retirement really be in this team’s best long-term interest if, say, the Golden State Warriors were interested in reengaging and perhaps sending them a young building block like Jonathan Kuminga?
The Lakers want to be buyers right now. They almost always want to be buyers. But they don’t fit the profile of a typical buyer given the realities of their present roster situation. That doesn’t mean they need to become sellers, but it’s not an idea to dismiss out of hand. If this season continues to go south, a breakup may not just be warranted, but the clear best path forward for a team whose contention window is rapidly closing.
